(work crews feverishly prepare for the announcement of just what we’ve been watching and eating in 2008)

Every December I send out a rambling, somewhat desperate electronic message to the Matador artist roster (well, most of ‘em) along w/ label staff and our Beggars’ colleagues, begging for their favorite people/places/things/records/memories from the year about to conclude. We’ve got our longest list of best-of’s so far, though keep in mind, if Gabe and Dave’s submissions were edited, we’d be back to our mid ’90′s brevity all over again. Read ‘em and weep, after the jump – G.C.

Jonah Falco, Fucked Up

Top Ten times I wished I was dead on tour this year:

10 – Zurich: Band mates spread false rumours on the internet about my other band breaking up right before a 2.5 week tour of the UK. Rash of confused emails from every promoter arrives, wine spills all over my brand new shirt. The stain is in the shape of Lake Eerie.
9 – Glasgow: I send our driver to the wrong airport to pick us up and as a result we have to sneak into T in the Park festival and almost miss our set. Walked into Rage Against the Machine’s backstage area but no one would play me at Ping Pong.
8 – Anytown: Damian tucks his penis between his legs to make a Mangina while facing the drums, but it pops out like springy snakes in a fake can of Cashews and I drop my sticks in the middle of “Crusades.”
7 – New York City: Hour 6 and onward at the 12 hour gig. My joints are all the size of grapefruits from playing so long….my hands still haven’t recovered. Playing a show the next night and having a bouncer advise me to “Do Well” because his friends “The Hell’s Angels” were there.
6 – Buffalo: We actually found a portion of Buffalo that didn’t look like the scene in Dresden from the film version of Slaughterhouse 5, but ate Chinese Food that was about the equivalent taste to a condom filled with mealworms.
5 – Playing a house show, I get hit in the face with a firm object and start to bleed. I look at my snare and it’s a sneaker, I look up and some rotten faced, scabby bastard is smiling at me giving the finger.
4 – Madrid: Developing a cold, bloated, and sitting backstage eating pieces of Salami, Sandy says “look behind you” and there are 5 cockroaches descending on me like the tarantulas in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
3 – Basque Country: Playing with the Adolescents and shouting “WHERE ARE THE ADOLESCENTS????” at the dinner table as they all quietly dined RIGHT BESIDE ME. Casey Royer threw me into a black hole later.
2 – Philadephia: Invited to do a DJ set, I basically drag the whole band to some shit bar in downtown Philly, play some songs, drink lots, and get REALLY into it, dancing etc…A few weeks later I find out the entire band had been calling me “Carlton” since.
1 – Over the past year: Ben pukes blood, Sandy gets a kidney stone, Mike gets a lightbulb in the face, Josh nearly dies from getting dosed with Crack, Damian nearly bleeds to death in Calgary…….I lie in wait.

Andrew Earles’ personal highlights of 2008…in no order.

1. Reading, or finally reading, Brock Yates’ Cannonball! The World’s Greatest Outlaw Road Race, Josh Alan Friedman’s Tales of Times Square, When Sex Was Dirty, and Tell The Truth Until They Bleed, various writers’ The Best American Crime Reporting 2008, James Lee Burke’s The Neon Rain and Jesus Out To Sea, current and back issues of the excellent Stop Smiling magazine, various writers’ A Prisoner of Memory, various writers’ The Blue Religion, Bill Buford’s Among the Thugs, Robert S. McNamara’s In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, Joe Carducci’s Enter Naomi: SST, L.A. and All That…, Mirielle Silcoff’s Urban Animals: A Comic Field Guide, Jim Harrison’s A Good Day to Die, James Crumley’s The Last Good Kiss and Dancing Bear, Thomas Berger’s Who is Teddy Villanova, Don Herron’s Willeford, and Bill Pronzini’s Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the Worst in Crime Fiction.
2. Boris “Smile” (the 2LP version…stateside, Southern Lord).

3. Torche “Meanderthal” (Hydra Head)
4. Geisha “Die Verbrechen der Liebe” (Crucial Blast)
5. Ian Christie’s Bazillion Points book publishing imprint.
6. TAD: Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears – A no-bullshit look at what happened to four guys who were not overly eccentric, psychotic, schizophrenic…this films distance from the uninspired, wallowing, contrived and unending parade of documentaries about musical “outsiders”…probably one big reason I dug it so much.
7. Metallica “…And Justice for All” (half-speed masters, 45 RPM, 4×12” reissue box set…Warner Bros.) – My ears are closed to the resounding protests of the misguided masses, for THIS is the best Metallica album.
8. Finding my once-lost copy of The Embarrassment’s 2 CD compilation “Heyday: 1979 – 1983” (Bar No…well, eBay or Amazon)
9. Making some serious headway with on my collection of Charles Willeford titles (a financially-backhanded thanks to alibris.com and eBay)
10. Surviving a particularly brutal and terrifying bout of appendicitis.
11. Pyramids s/t (Hydra Head)
12. The Crucial Blast label.
13. The 3 CD Big Dipper anthology (Merge)
14. The release of “Earles and Jensen Present…Just Farr A Laugh Vol. 1 & 2 (The Greatest Prank Calls Ever!)”
15. My new (for 2008) Schwinn “Trail Way” dual-purpose/hybrid MULTISPEED bicycle.
16. Neil Hamburger “Sings Country Winners” (Drag City)
17. My sincere and deep enjoyment of the following movies and TV shows: Shooter, There Will Be Blood, UKM: The Ultimate Killing Machine, Role Models, Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFO’s, Season 5 of The Wire, UFO Files, MonsterQuest, the hilarious Burn Notice, and The Strangers (a simple and mostly non-violent horror film that scared and troubled me to the core…this is the way it should be done). I’m forgetting so many….
18. Becoming a hermit or at least cutting the social activity by about 75%

Ben Cook, Fucked Up

1. Hooking up with the little guy from Set Your Goals in San Fran, and not telling anyone.
2. Being so close to Beyonce @ BBC I could smell her.
3. Asking the singer of Hercules & Love Affair to go on a rollercoaster with me in Holland. I love you. Call me ?
4. Copenhagen
5. Scootie/D.T.F
6. Mariah E=Mc2
7. Newcastle, Where’s my leather jacket? Eff you.
8. Stephen Ireland
9. Smoking Crack in Barcelona
10. Valentina

Thurston Moore, the sonik-youth

1. Eight Miles High (Das Wilde Leben) – German movie about Uschi Obermaier,
super 60s Rolling Stones groupie who was a commune radical in Berlin.
2. Let the Right One in (Låt den rätte komma in) – Norwegian movie about a
12 yr old boy who is bullied and meets a friend – a 12 yr old vampire girl.
Sweet and sticky.
3. The Savage Detectives – Robert Bolano – fiction book. 18 year old Mexico
City poet dude falls in with weirdo literary gang who call themselves the
Visceral Realists. Funny, strange, sexy – kickass book – looking forward to
his next one (Bolano’s dead) – just came out, titled: 2666
4. Noise Nomads – solo noise dude runs the Bonescraper cassette label and is
killer artist. His performances are surreal disconnections of true noise
physicality. A lot of heart.
5. Uneven Universe – duo from Michigan using saxophones and junk sound. Dan
“Dude” Dlugosielski and Hellfire Holly. Dan runs the ExciteBike (EXBX)
label. Both are also in Cardboard Sax with Wolf Eyes’ John Olson. Check it:

6. Budweiser Sprite – Portland, OR’s Daniel Rizer solo jzoint. Slathering
noise projections with genuine organik flow vibe. Daniel runs the Together
Tapes label where every release features his art which is excellent. Dude
used to be in Ohio and released that Nohio tape series -legendary. Real
deal. check:

7. MV Carbon – The Dislodged Parahelion CD – MV is more known as one half of
Metalux who have some records out, most notably on Load. This CD is a solo
thing she sold on some gigs — beautiful and gracefully off balance,
mesmerizing and edged. She’s been duo-ing with Tony Conrad recently.
8. Malkuth – black metal trio from NYC with members from No Neck Blues Band,
which maybe shouldn’t work but DOES. A very real grasp of the defiled-music
tenets of BM.
9. Live at the Masque-Nightmare in Punk Alley – photo book edited by Brendan
Mullen who ran the infamous 70s punk basement club in Hollywood. Impressive
publishing effort by Gingko Press of how to present a rock n roll substrata
in all it’s maniacal glory. Loaded with ephemera, memorials and pix of not
only the big namers like The Germs, X etc but all the secondary, tertiary
bands who played (some who had yet to really make the transition from 1975
to punk yet.) Lovely.
10. The Evolution of A Cro-Magnon – memoir by John Joseph, singer of the
Cro-Mags. Kinda like the Ringolevio of the early 80s NYC hardcore scene. And
written in a super-1st person narrative where he will, while talking about
someone, call that person out (“Hey Vinnie, if yr reading this, get in touch
man, gotta work some shit out”) – not a direct quote but like that.
Harrowing pre-teen urban nightmare life saved by an epiphany at a
Faith/Untouchables/Bad Brains gig in Virginia. A gripper.

Stuart Braithwaite, Mogwai

1 Hunger the amazing debut film by (the English) Steve McQueen
2 Remember Remember by Remember Remember lp (apologies for Rock Action nepotism)
3 The Dark Knight film
4 Bon Iver album album
5 Kick Ass comic by Mark Millar
6 Celtic winning the league on the last day of the season
7 Neon Neon lp
8 The Earth album
9 The Shellac album
10 Waltz with Bashir film

1. Promo of Scottish band De Rosa‘s new album called Prevention on Chemikal
Underground Records. If I like it, it’s bound to sell literally hundreds, of
downloads.
2. Gladly having to cut short a tour in the spastic fuckhole that is
America, thank fuck for drummers with serious heart issues.
3. The credit brunch, it’s what’s for dinner.
4. Russia’s return to groupthink idiocy.
5. The end to the win-able dual wars on terror and drugs, finally! The
streets are dry.

6. A rediscovery of the band called Crystallized Movements (you know, from
the past)
7. Christopher Hitchens and (nearly) everything he says. Especially about
Diana, our dead princess. A great orator.
8. The re-emergence of the non-mild winter in Glasgow. It’s fucking baltic
here again and quite rightly, that’s why I bought an unfashionable North
Face coat. Last year, wearing that jacket, I temporarily looked like a long
haired mutt hanging out a warm Ford.
9. That new president guy you got that isn’t a primate’s skinbag rash.
10. The late discovery of both The Wire and The Sopranos. Don’t even try to
tell me they’re shite, over here we’re stuck with EastEnders, the
omnipresent Michael Caine and a stupid non-biased, un-entertaining and
factual media which is apparently the envy of the world. But they don’t tell
you that on TV.

Jonathan Meiburg, Shearwater
I. Music

1. Pekos/Yoro Diallo (Yalla Yalla recs)
2. Lost Wisdom by Mt Eerie w/ Julie Doiron and Fred Squire
3. Do It! by Clinic
4. Wild Combination (Arthur Russell bio-film)
5. 44 duets for violin by Bela Bartok, performed live before our show at Le Poisson Rouge, NYC
6. Wild applause from thousands every time I said “this is our last song, Coldplay is next!”

II. Hyphenated Books

1. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon – A Journey through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West
2. The Civil War – A Narrative (3 Vols.) by Shelby Foote
3. American Buffalo – In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella

“The cover of our Lp features the feathers of the Red Guilded
Spricker, a woodpecker who would wake us all up in the mornings by
hammering the roof. I couldn’t figure out what to do so I checked out
a book at the library on local birds, and read that this bird
‘sometimes sleeps in warm window ledges if a suitable nest has not
been made on time.’ So then I realized he was sleeping outside of the
window. This year he’s returned & made a huge hole in the roof, now
living inside the adobe. I’m glad to see him again!”

Jeffrey Jensen

Mario Chalmers miraculous 3-point shot. He’ll never pay full price for an independently produced 7 inch single in that town for the rest of his life.
KU embarrassing North Carolina in the final four. Man, that was a long time coming. Watching Roy get interviewed during the finals wearing a Jayhawk was sweet. The outrage it caused among UNC alums…icing kid…straight up icing.
Men who look like old lesbians dot com. This is old news to some but I just discovered it this year.
King of Kong-DVD
Jimmy Kimmel Live-Yes, there are way too many empty-headed “actors and actresses” featured and yes, 95 percent of the music guests suck and yes, Uncle Frank and Guillermo aren’t that funny and yes, sometimes the whole show has an off-putting “we’re mean spirited post-swing revival jocks” vibe. BUT the monologue is still the most consistently funny 15 minutes on TV plus the Cousin Sal and Jake Byrd bits are genius (youtube them if you don’t know what I’m talking about).
Can’t stop the bleeding dot com. Considering that our Chief G. Cosloy runs the ship over there this a little interbred and brown-nosery. BUT this mega-blog is a very impressive accomplishment EVERY DAY. Makes me feels genuinely less guilty for the amount of time I devote to the world of sports.

Juniors Restaurant in Brooklyn. The food is awful but it draws the best assortment of true characters in NYC. Go there to drink booze or eat sweets and play cards. Try the Hoboken (chocolate ice cream with pineapple syrup). Yes, I’m old and fat.
Full 75-game run of Ken Jennings Jeopardy appearances on the Game Show Network. Could I think of something more constructive to do with my free time than Tivo Jeopardy and match my wits against trivia god Ken Jennings by actually scoring my own answers along with his everyday? Probably.
Neil Hamburger Plays Country Winners. Arguably his worst offering so far but this is the only “new” record I think I actually bought this year. Yes, that says a lot about Neil Hamburger and the state of music but I think it says more about how little I care anymore.
Uncle Floyd Vivino performs at Collucci’s in North Haledon New Jersey every Tuesday night.
The Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. I love sports halls of fame, this one is pretty small and kinda stuffy BUT a wing devoted to Bobby Riggs and Billy Jean King? Wowzers!!!
Visiting Saratoga Springs Racetrack. VERY crowded VERY blue-blooded and insultingly expensive to visit. But never having been there it lived up to my huge expectations just based on the beauty of the track itself.
The moment where Chris “Mad Dog” Russo broke down and cried during his farewell broadcast of the Mike and Mad Dog show.
Fried asparagus rolls from the venerable E. Village sushi haunt Sapporo East. Maybe my favorite food item in the world. If I were forced to pick a dish for competitive eating this is it.
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Are these fat boys actually funnier than me? Maybe…hmmm…maybe.
Building my biz to the point where I don’t actually have to work shifts on my taco truck.
The inspiring and unexpected performance from Fernando Tatis.
Jonathan King-King of Hits 8 CD comp. How many artists deserve and 8 CD retrtospective? This is so good.
Last but not least Earles and Jensen present…Just Farr a Laugh The Greatest Prank Phone Calls Ever Vols. 1 & 2.

Damian Abraham, Fucked Up

Top Ten Things I didn’t Do In 2009 That I Should Have Done to be a better person…
10) Try “Drank”
9) See Dark Knight in the Theatre
8 Hear “Chinese Democracy”
7) Play “Grand Theft Auto IV”
6) Lose money in the stock market
5) Get a pizza from that new place on Ossington
4) Watch Rage Against The Machine (when we played a festival with them)
3) Start watching Saturday Night Live again
2) Fall in love with / totally hate (insert band name here)
1)Vote for Obama (I’m Canadian)

Cacio e Pepe– classic “easy” Roman pasta. One day i’ll get it right…
Knyfe Hyts –”smoke the milk”Mickey One– new (sony?) print intro’d by Tom Surgal at Anthology
Tretorn– classic tennis sneaker reissue
Montreal food scene— Liverpool House, J. Beef, l’Express, Schwartz’, Kitchen club
Atwater, Jean-Talon, so much more…
Sic Alps- “US EZ” lp on Siltbreeze
Thai food blog– from photographer Austin Bush. i gotta go to BKK!!
Pension Briol– Dolomiti— worth hiking to, but if you have kids you can hire an SUV
to get you there….
Rivendell bikes — one day I’ll own one, but until then I’ll buy parts!
Mississippi records– haven’t heard ‘em all, but love the 4 that I have…
Ojai Pixie Tangerines– sometimes small as a quarter! Order early in season from Friends Ranch, Ojai, CA

Claire Taylor, Beggars Group

Beachwood Sparks at Maxwell’s
Book Club (started with 10 members; now at 3)

The Faces reunite / plan ’09 tour (99% chance I take this one back in ’09; for now I remain optimistic)
Five Live Yardbirds LP
Greenpoint Y
Harmonica (learning to play much to delight of roommates and neighbors)
Mad Men
Shearwater at (Le) Poisson Rouge
Technicolor Web of Sound Radio
Vetiver – Thing Of The Past

Sonya Kolowrat, Beggars Group

1) anticipation of becoming a mother in mid-January
2) Being at SNL with Vampire Weekend and the after party and the after-after party
3) FILM – “The First Saturday In May” – about the Kentucky Derby – amazing!!!
4) ALBUM – Beach House – Devotion
5) Strasbourg, Saskatchewan
6) The National & REM at Madison Square Garden
7) Jacques Torres’ Hot Chocolate
8 ALBUM – Bonnie Prince Billy – Lie Down In The Light
9) Seeing Jarvis Cocker & Spiritualized in the same week
10) hand dipped salted caramels from Nunu/bittersweet chocolate tiles topped with grey sea salt from poco dolce in SF

Gonzalo Schiaffino, Popstock Distribuciones (Spain)
Best of the year in no particular order except # 1

Neurosis and Mastodon, two nights at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple – As much as I love seeing Mastodon, Neurosis owned these two cold nights in January.
Mates of State – “Re-Arrange Us” – Yeah yeah yeah. I love this album. Riding your bike over the bridge, you can hardly tell that you’re harmonizing out of tune.
Fleet Foxes – “Fleet Foxes” and “Sun Giant” and like 5 times in concert – Yeah yeah yeah to a lesser extent. Seriously though, I don’t think there was a better bunch of songs or singing this year. And this:
Fucked Up – “The Chemistry of Common Life” – Such a great album. Pop songs also, really.
Department of Eagles – In Ear Park and live on a rooftop – Heartbreaking sounds, really beautiful. Live performances in ’09!

Hamlet 2 – The best movie I’ve seen in the theater in a long time. Very laughy
the Jay Reatards live. so good. Billy is the best drummer.
All Tomorrow’s Parties at Kutsher’s – My dad played baseball here in his youth (JKJKheadbobJKLOL). That’s actually true though.
Chairlift – Does You Inspire You – Really pretty and catchy
Girls (the band) – watch out for them in 2009. It’s going to happen.True Panther Sounds and Dean Bean Bein – Great label, better dude.
girls (not the band)
Kleenex Girl Wonder (not Girls, or girls) – Mrs. Equitone – Reconnecting with genius of Graham Smith was one of the year’s most pleasant surprises.
Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter 3 – It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn good. Rotten year for hip hop, kinda.
Times New Viking – Rip It Off – Midwest rock record of the year. They are destroying minds in concert right now too.
Monotonix live – Could be terrible, is actually excellent.
The 2007-08 NBA Champion Boston Celtics – I can’t believe how hard I was rooting for a Boston team. Ray Ray got a ring though!!! Also, would they have won that series if his jumper had never returned? No chance.
Mario Chalmers – I can’t believe I rooted for the Jayhawks. Also, Memphis lost that game at line.
The Muslims changing their name to the Soft Pack – Christmas comes early!!
King Khan and the Shrines “secret show” at Don Pedros after they played the Sea Port. WOW
Meneguar and and Oxford Collapse making the best records of the mid-’90s of 2008. Both really really great.
THE VIVIAN GIRLS – 2008 touchstone, to be sure.
Moving to the city
Moving two doors down from Hospital Productions
Getting to write a top ten list for the Matador website

7. Getting married
8. Honeymooning in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
9. Getting married

10. Honeymooning in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast

Top-10 food items of 2008

1. Mushroom ravoli at Tra Vigne. Best. Reception. Food. EVER. This dish was amazing. And off the menu to boot.
2. Margherita pizza at Antica Pizzaria da Michelle, Naples. There’s a reason this place has been in business since the 1800s.
3. Margherita pizza at Da Gigino, Sorrento. Lovely tucked away restaurant in Sorrento. Went three times. Was stoked each and every one of them.
4. Gelateria Davide, Sorrento. Went every day. Don’t feel guilty in the least.
5. White tuna with garlic at Kamakura, Alameda. Again, an old standby never fails to impress.
6. Mushroom pappardelle at Il Bagatto. Too bad it’s such a battle to eat there, as everything I’ve ever had there has been amazing.
7. Combination #2 (or #3, can’t remember): Shrimp taco and lobster burrito at El Zarape in San Diego. Garett and Halloran I will always love you for taking me here. And sort of hate you since you get to eat it far more often than I.
8. Veggie burrito at El Farolito, San Francisco. Would be on my top-10 every year if I still lived in the Bay Area.
9. One of the 10s of Rosenbloom zins I had this year. Each one was delicious. Join the Red Rangers club. You will not be disappointed.
10. Margaritas at my apartment. Mine are still better than any others I’ve had. Sorry, New York. And everywhere else.

1 summertime in the Catskills
2 Gavin and Stacy on BBC America
3 Jaya learning to walk and talk
4 seamless web
5 the final season of the shield – sad its the final one but it was great
6 this american life on ipod to and from work
7 Be Your Own Pet -both “Get Awkward” album and especially “Get Damaged ” EP
8 fucked up – album and what i saw of the 12 hour show
9 maui in november
10 actually reading a few novels and watching a few films in their entirety

A late ’07 Release I picked up in ’08:
Gavin Bryars, Phillip Jeck, Alter Ego – The Sinking of The Titanic

Other:
The Ex with Getatchew Mekurya, Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Esthete with Either/Orchestra @ Damrosh Park Bandshell
Watching Glauber Rocha’s Antonio Das Mortes on the big screen and again on the small screen
Mad Men Season 2

Todd Netter, Beggars Group

my season’s greetings to everyone:

To Dorian Cox, I know you had a rough year but stay positive things will get better!

Top 5 shows (in no particular order):
- Vampire Weekend at Summer Stage (in the pouring rain, really fun)
- King Khan & The Shrines at Don Pedro’s (a rowdy night was had)
- M.I.A. at McCarren Pool (the stage and lighting were amazing and Holy Fuck opened up)
- Times New Viking at the WFMU show at Irving Plaza (the best sounding show I’ve seen TNV play)
- Sigur Rós at MoMA (on Icelandic Independence day and an Olafur Eliasson exhibit too. Wow what a night!)

Top 5 music related persons, places, events or things (in no particular order, have I mentioned that before):
- Fucked Up’s 12 Hour Show. Anyone who was there knows how great this was.
- The Bell House. Who doesn’t like a new venue and this one by all accounts seems like a good one.
- Record Store Day. I’m glad it’s back for 2009, hopefully the stores are too.
- SXSW. I thought it was great this year.
- Jay Reatard Matador Singles 7″s. I got a complete set, sorry not trying to rub it in.

Top 5 non-music related persons, places or events (very much in particular order):
- Meg Baker. She’s a pretty rad lady.
- Obama. Let me say that again President Obama.
- 2 week vacation in Sun Valley, Idaho this Xmas and NYE. Can you tell I’m excited?
- Giants beating the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. I still can’t believe that happened.
- Going to Yankee Stadium in it’s final season (Fri, Aug 15th against the Royals).

Jane Pollard, Beggars Group
Top ten live experiences of 2008
1 – The jaw-dropping closeness of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in session at Miloco Studios, London
2 – Fuelling my obsession seeing Damien Jurado two nights in a row in New York
3 – Spine-tingling quietness of an acoustic performance by Stuart Staples in his studio, Limogues
4 – The gospel according to Bill Callahan at St. James’ Church, London
4.5 – The sur-reality of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Hollywood Bowl
5 – Making new friends at Rowland S Howard Toff on the Town, Melbourne
6 – Necking free vodka and oscillating wildly to The Gossip playing the Deitch Projects party, Miami
7 – Losing my ears to My Bloody Valentine, Roundhouse, London
8 – Picking up the pieces of my heart after Spiritualized at iTunes Festival, Air studios, London
9 – Antony and the Johnsons raising the roof of the Barbican, London
9.5 – Clutching a camera throughout the Grinderman warm-up show in Hove
10 – Sitting on the floor at the Bon Iver Rough Trade East in-store, London

Catherine Herrick, Beggars Group

Becoming an Aunt for a 2nd time with the Birth of my Nephew, Nicholas
Baking for the first time without assistance
Creating my own recipe for the best Sangria ever
Having authentic Texas BBQ for the first time
Meeting Jarvis Cocker and having to run and shriek in the mailroom like a giddy teenager immediately afterwards
Seeing Mission of Burma play Signals, Calls, and Marches AND Vs. at Bowery Ballroom
The re-release of Sweatin’ To The Oldies as a 5 DVD set with the inclusion of inspirational bonus disc Love Yourself and Win
The bulk shipment of Crunk!!! Energy Drink from Lil Jon’s peeps to our office, and hoarding the sugar-free cans
Becoming an honorary Kanas Citian without having spent time in the town
The luxury of learning to play bass on a really nice Rickenbacker that is bigger than I am

Annette Lee, 4AD

2008 – the highs:
- Wispa bars
- Shearwater @ St Giles Church
- Two hours’ tete-a-tete with Gary Numan on the set of This Morning. A new career high.
- Fucked Up @ GYC, Guildford.
- Halloween chez Alma Road.

- Kill Your Friends by John Niven. Terrifyingly real.
- Seeing Eddie Izzard perform live twice. The man is a genius in heels

2008 – the lows:
- Saturday @ ATP vs The Fans between 5pm and midnight. Clearly Bloody Marys and me don’t mix.
- Chronic sunburn on the last day of my only summer holiday. More pain than life itself.
- The new Indiana Jones. 2 hours of my life I will never get back.

Helen Rush, Matador Direct
Favorite Quote of 2008

“Prepare to put mustard on those words for you will soon be consuming them along with this slice of humble pie that comes direct from the oven of shame set at gas mark egg on your face”…………….Ha ha………

Some music I loved this year, old and new, in alphabetical order (sorry if I forgot you)
A.R. & Machines – Die Grüne Reise
Beauregard Ajax – Deaf Priscilla
Blank Dogs – ‘On Two Sides’ and ‘The Fields’
Cold Sun – Dark Shadows
The Common People – Of The People By The People For The People
Crystal Stilts – S/T 12″ and ‘Alight Of Night’
Damien Eih, A.l.k & Brother Clark – Never Mind
The Electronic Hole – S/T
Lau Nau – Ebony & Ivory
Meneguar – The In Hour
Morgen – S/T
Vivian Girls – S/T

1. Bruce Springsteen’s cover of Suicide’s ‘Dream Baby Dream’ first installment of Blast First Petite’s 10″ series, it made a believer out of me.
2. ‘Let The Right One In’ by Tomas Alfredson.
3. Jay Reatard Singles and CMJ shows and all of the shows, generally all of it… can’t wait for the album!
4. Shock of the New by Robert Hughes.
5. Joe Carducci book reading of ‘Enter Naomi’ that guy has some amazing stories
6. Teenage Jesus and the Jerks reunion
7. Crypt Records – Brooklyn Shop (RIP)
8. Francis Bacon Retrospective at the Tate (and my amazing friends laura and sam who waited for me to finish looking at the show!)
9. Death By Audio
10. Sacred Bones label

Shows:
Fabulous Diamonds, Blues Control, Rot Shit & Psychedelic Horseshit at Asterisk in Brooklyn
Naked on the Vague @ the Charleston.
Cheap Time @ that Todd P Kent Ave place. Totally killed, about as good as a band can get.
Suttree @ Don Pedro’s. beautiful
Live Fast Die & Thomas Function @ the Annex. LFD kinda stole the show between Aaron’s stage moves & Camero’s interaction w/the club staff & booker, but Thomas Function were great too.
Sex Vid @ asterik. Thought they were a little whatever earlier @ the Knitting Factory, but later that night they were on fire.
Tyvek @ Death By Audio. Made up for their disappointing Charleston show and then some.
Dutchess & the Duke @ the Charleston & Music Hall of Williamsburg. Great both times, but the antagonistic vibes flying at the MHoW made it even a bit better.
Home Blitz & Rot Shit @ South Oakland (Pgh) house Party this summer. Worth totally re-arranging my schedule for & then driving all night to get home.
Vivian Girls & the Crystal Stilts it seems like both played everywhere all the time, but both bands are so much better live than their records (and I love their records) and getting better each time I see them.
Pink Reason: saw a bunch of shows. Pretty much all the same songs at each one give or take, but each one was totally different & totally great.
Blues Control, Daniel DiMaggio, Hank IV & Los Llamarada @ the Charleston. Everyone was great but Hank IV made me proud to be old.
Vaselines @ Southpaw

Shearwater – Rook
Boris at Primavera Festival and eating Paella on the beach
Times New Viking at ATP May, MBV at ATP NYC and Teenage Jesus… at ATP Xmas

Watching the crowd reaction to Jay Z at Glastonbury from the privileged view point of side of stage
The number of Fancy Dress costumes i’ve worn this year
Stalking Fucked Up around the UK for the whole of 2008
Shearwater at St Giles Church, London
Eating Doritos at the North Pole under 24hr sun
Shredyrface1 and the plotting of Shred2
Shellac’s Halloween costumes at Release The Bats
Searching for the best sushi in London, the quest continues.
Cheap Time – s/t

Bad stuff : Mets bullpen, Mets relievers, the guys who pitch for the Mets after the starters leave the game. Mets closers, set up men, mop up men, their families and friends. Prop 8. Twitter/F-book pests. Not necessarily in that order.

you are correct, sir. However, I didn’t hear it until July of this year. But indeed, your advocacy of the Busy Signals was documented one calendar year ago. I encourage everyone reading this to peruse kt’s tops of ’08 list next week at cstb for tips on what the culturally unaware will be listening to in 10 months’ time.

man, tough crowd today. I’m gonna put whatever i liked most on my own hopelessly outta-touch list. If anyone else wishes to pay homage to Paul Revere and/or ignore the legacy of Daved Hild, that’s totally their call. I might not agree with their decisions, but I’ll defend their right to do so with my last dying breath. OK, maybe not with my last dying breath.

In any event, you live near the Busy Signals so please let them know (with my apologies) they’ve been disqualified from this exercise. They can keep the commemorative gift basket — I don’t believe the fruit will survive return shipping to Manhattan.

wow! 4 Jayhawks fans?!?! Rock fuckin’ Chalk dudes. You’re all invited to my house to watch them take on Temple this Saturday. Bring those Vivian Girls and Paul Revere records so I can get caught up. If things get slow I have some scratchy Paul Lindsay LPs we could check out at half time.